Barclays will not pay £3,646 curiosity on my late brother-in-law’s £880,000 financial savings: SALLY SORTS IT

My brother-in-law died on Christmas Day 2023. My husband had to organise probate on his estate, which took almost nine months. 

His brother had several bank accounts to close and investments to sell. 

We were advised by our solicitor to open an ‘executor’s account’ for the proceeds for around £880,000 as they were too large to be held in their account.

We opened one with Barclays, which was the bank used by my late brother- in-law. 

But we’ve discovered that no interest was being paid despite being told that it was an interest-bearing account. Barclays blamed us for not requesting a savings account. Can you help?

S. M., Slough, Berks.

Sally Hamilton replies: Lucky Barclays. It had your late brother-in-law’s cash pile sitting in its vaults for many months and did not add a penny of interest to it.

You told me that the balance rose from an initial £116,093 when the account was opened 15 months ago to £767,000 in December last year as accounts were consolidated and investments sold.

By February this year, it had risen to nearly £880,000 – which was when your husband rang to double-check it was earning interest.

You recounted how, 15 months ago, you visited your local Barclays to set up an executor account. 

You said it was done quickly as the clerk needed to collect her children from school. She completed the form and asked your husband to sign.

Fast-forward to February this year, and with the time for sharing out the estate nearing, your husband rang Barclays to check that interest was being paid on the account. He was told it was.

But more recently, when you spoke to Barclays again, it told you no interest had been earned. It said it was your husband’s fault for not asking for a savings account at the start.

Your husband complained and asked why it hadn’t been fully explained that there were two accounts available – a savings one that pays interest and a current account that does not. 

Its excuse was the bank isn’t allowed to offer financial advice and that your husband should have checked the form before signing.

I am sceptical that it constitutes advice for a bank clerk to point out that one account earns interest and the other doesn’t. Rather, I see it as good service to provide appropriate facts to customers so they can make their own informed decisions.

Bank account guru Rachel Springall, of financial website Moneyfacts, tells me that opening a bank executor account is not a legal requirement for someone managing the affairs of a deceased person, but says they are usually recommended to make it easier to carry out the financial tasks involved.

An executor account can only be used for the business of dealing with the deceased estate, making everything transparent.

Alternatively, executors can open any bank account for this purpose – as long as it is kept separate from their own personal financial affairs.

Banks typically demand executors provide a ‘grant of representation’ (England or Wales) or a ‘confirmation’ (Scotland). These prove an individual has the authority to act as executor. Banks may also request the death certificate, will and the executor’s ID.

Taking the current average saving rate of 3.1 pc, I calculate that just the initial balance on the proceeds of the estate could have earned about £4,500 gross by the time you wrote to me. For two months at £880,000, the interest could have reached more than £4,500.

Barclays informed me that its executor savings account pays just 1.25 pc gross. Even at that lowly rate you could have received at least £1,813 on the initial balance alone and £1,833 for the couple of months when it peaked at £880,000, plus a few thousand pounds in between.

Barclays stated that from its end everything was above board and that your husband had not only selected the current account by signing the forms but should have been alerted to the lack of interest when statements came in.

Barclays agreed to pay interest from the date of the phone call in February when your husband had been led to believe the account was receiving interest. The redress amounts to £901 in interest, plus £100 as an apology.

A Barclays spokesperson says: ‘We are sorry for the misunderstanding and have made a payment to the customer to compensate them for the loss of interest.’

New kitchen hob is a fire risk 

I bought a Bertazzoni gas hob via kitchen company Howdens in November last year. I soon found that the hob retained excessive heat for an extended period after use, creating a safety hazard. 

Within just three weeks the cast-iron pan supports began showing signs of wear, too. I have complained but feel I am not being properly listened to. Please can you help?

B .L., London.

Sally Hamilton replies: You made complaints to the manufacturer Bertazzoni, pointing to the Consumer Rights Act 2015, which says goods sold must be fit for purpose. 

You claimed this meant you were entitled to a repair, replacement or refund as it was defective. Your preference was for a replacement as you had lost confidence in the hob.

Bertazzoni offered various suggestions as to why you were experiencing overheating, including that you may have been using the wrong-sized pots for each burner. You were insistent that your pots and pans were the right size and had been used correctly.

It was clear to me the better course of action was to approach Howdens. The Consumer Rights Act states when there is a faulty product involved, it is the retailer who is responsible and should be a customer’s first port of call.

I asked Howdens to intervene. This it did swiftly, offering to cover the cost of removing the hob, which it returned to Bertazzoni, installing a new one (a Bosch appliance that you paid for) as well as refunding the price of the original – a total of £1,104. You were delighted.

A spokesman says: ‘We are sorry it took so long to reach a satisfactory solution in this case.’

• Write to Sally Hamilton at Sally Sorts It, Money Mail, Northcliffe House, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5TT or email sally@dailymail.co.uk — include phone number, address and a note addressed to the offending organisation giving them permission to talk to Sally Hamilton. Please do not send original documents as we cannot take responsibility for them. No legal responsibility can be accepted by the Daily Mail for answers given.